[RobH]

I知 looking for some advice on preventative treatment for lice, mites, etc for my chickens. For cleaning purposes I use Poultry Shield on the coop but should I do to treat the birds? What should I use (what brand) and how often etc?

[joyfull]

Hello Rob, if you take a look at this link it should give you all the information you need (plus a load more  ).

http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=5250.0

[ehs284]

That sticky is spot on; I'd only add, that if you change insecticides that you do both at once (birds and coop). If you change one, but not the other you can end up with resistance to both - very unlkely, but worth considering.

[RobH]

Great, thanks for pointing this out.

So it looks like I am doing the right thing using Poultry Shield in the coop, I just need to start using something like Invermectin as a perventative measure?

[ehs284]

You shouldn't use a treatment like Ivermectin as a prophylactic. If you stick to Poultry shield for the coop then a safe preventative treatment for the birds would be Barrier Red Mite Powder - trade name here as there are a lot of insecticide based red mite powders around the world. Note also that Poultry Shield can be a different product outside theU K. It is supposed to be effective for 6 weeks so a monthly regime of dusting should be OK. We started this when we got our first chickens which were feathered parasite packages and have (touches wooden head ) had no problems since. This regime means no danger to eggs, chickens or people. A tip ; segregate the birds into done and not done. You might think that you can spot the white powdered ones, but they shake and dive into a dust bath immediately.
There are some ideas on the Poultrykeeper site

http://poultrykeeper.com/chickens/health/red-mite.html
HTH

[RobH]

Great Thanks for you help!